As military clashes among the United States, Israel, and Iran have continued for more than a month, Korea's stock market capitalization has decreased by nearly 700 trillion won. In particular, more than 300 trillion won in value evaporated from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the No. 1 and No. 2 by market cap on the Korea Exchange (KOSPI), in just a month, sharply widening volatility.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 29th, as of the 27th, the combined market capitalization of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ was 5,114.9769 trillion won. Compared with on the 27th of last month (5,801.6719 trillion won), it decreased by 686.6950 trillion won.
By market, KOSPI market capitalization fell from 5,146.3731 trillion won to 4,482.7295 trillion won over the same period, a decrease of about 663.6436 trillion won. KOSDAQ market cap also fell from 655.2988 trillion won to 632.2474 trillion won, down about 23 trillion won.
Since the start of the year, the domestic stock market had extended a rally, showing a strong uptrend and, for the first time ever, surpassing a combined market capitalization of 5,000 trillion won, but it gave back most of its gains after the war broke out. On the 26th of last month, the combined market cap expanded to 5,852.4327 trillion won, but it contracted sharply thereafter.
During the war period, the stock market showed extreme volatility, with hundreds of trillions of won in market capitalization evaporating or recovering on a daily basis. On the 3rd, when the KOSPI plummeted, market cap shrank by more than 370 trillion won in a single day, and the next day also saw a decrease in the 500 trillion won range. By contrast, during rebounds, more than 400 trillion won in market cap recovered in a day, with ups and downs repeating.
The slump in bellwether stocks also had a major impact on the decline in market cap. Samsung Electronics' market capitalization fell 217.8427 trillion won from 1,281.6016 trillion won at the end of last month to 1,063.7589 trillion won. SK hynix also decreased by about 99 trillion won, from 756.1772 trillion won to 657.1116 trillion won. The two stocks alone accounted for a 316.9083 trillion won drop, nearly half of the total decline.
Hyundai Motor was down about 36 trillion won, and LG Energy Solution lost about 7.6 trillion won in market capitalization.
The market sees the broader decline as the result of weakened investor sentiment amid heightened geopolitical risk, compounded by corrections in large-cap stocks such as semiconductors.